International Women’s Day: March 8. Approximately 288 women turned out. We received a thank you note from them. We didn’t have a speaker this year, as the Alderperson who had been asked wasn’t able to attend and the Raging Grannies also withdrew. We would like to think ahead for next year to have a motivational woman leader/speaker; women that we know in the community that are good role models.

3. New Business:

a) PSAC Triennial Convention: April 29-May 4. Our resolution has been slotted in as #27, out of 83 motions that were given concurrence. There are some contentious issues ahead of us, so we are very likely to not even hit the floor as each committee picks top 10 priorities and those typically make it to the floor for debate. We discussed ideas to promote our resolution anyway. We spoke to the Caring Society and we are allowed to use the logo but can’t change anything. Discussed ideas, but think we don’t want to do buttons as they turn into garbage afterwards. We can do a Poster on glossy paper, like a patchwork quilt of the logos, with Bear Witness Day, and May 10 on it. Also, stickers with “Bear Witness” and “May 10” or our own personalized one with info that doesn’t use the actual logo but a teddy bear image. Can we use #BearWitness?

We need to send an email to the locals, to inform them about the resolutions for convention as well as about Bear Witness Day upcoming on May 10. We also need to draft the stickers with the info. Can we have teddy bear shaped ones? Deb to do this.

b) Scotiabank Marathon Charity Challenge: May 24-27. Our team in the past was the Sole Sisters. Josie was going to make a poster, but hasn’t been able to yet. Call out for 4 people. RWC will pay the entrance fee for us to do the 5km charity run, with raised funds for the Women’s Centre of Calgary through the collection of pledges. We need to have the team established by April 30. Deb will send a request to the locals for participation as well as support through sponsorship. Melisa and Tabassom are interested. Jenn is a maybe...

c) Walking With Our Sisters: April 29-May 14. This is an art project to honour the lives of Missing and Murdered Aboriginal women in Canada. They need volunteers for installation, tear down, and as tour guides. Check out www.wwoscalgary.ca for details. Deb will develop an email blast to the locals for participation.

5. Roundtable:

Tabassom – nothing to add

Jenn – nothing to add

Stephanie – nothing to add

Arliss – nothing to add

Kirsten – Do we know anything about the Women’s retreat that is supposed to be coming in 2018? - Nope.

We can ask our Rep at the April 23rd meeting

Deb – Updated information regarding security, storage and access to committee chequebooks. Cheque books for all committees will be stored in their respective cabinet drawers in the unit located in the large boardroom. These drawers have locks and each Committee Chair will be responsible for a key to their respective committee drawer. The REVP has advised she is aware that from time to time, chequebooks do leave the Regional Offices. This is acceptable, but only an executive member can take the chequebook out of the office, and our Regional Rep should be notified when it is taken, and it should be returned as soon as possible. Also, as the amount we spend on events like IWD or the Women’s Retreat can be large, we will look at making advances to those members spending large sums for things like door prizes/wheel prizes, gift cards, etcetera, to receive an advance that covers a large portion of the anticipated cost, and hopefully then the balance due to our members doing this service will be minimal and paid out upon presentation of a receipt or receipts, as the case may be.